The city of Glendale is continuing its public campaign against a November ballot measure asking voters to reverse a $25 million sales tax increase passed earlier this year.

Glendale will hold public hearings on a list of proposed draconian cuts the city says will happen if voters rescind the five-year increases.

The city says it could cut 250 jobs, including police and fire positions, close library branches and a public pool as well as the Glendale Channel 11 television station. Glendale also is threatening to nix downtown festivals if voters approve Proposition 457.

The measure is backed by a group called Save Glendale Now, which gets financing and support from the Sanderson Ford car dealership and the Home Builders Association of Central Arizona.

Sanderson President David Kimmerle is upset with the Glendale City Council and former City Manager Ed Beasley financial stewardship.

He notes the city has a $200 million debt tab for the Camelback Ranch spring training ballpark it built for the Chicago White Sox and Los Angeles Dodgers, and that the city lost money the last time the Super Bowl was here in 2009.

The sales tax increase, which takes Glendale’s rate from 2.2 percent to 2.9 percent, is slated to run until 2017. It likely won't be the current council and mayor making the cuts with November elections set to put in place new city leadership.

The measure also has ties to the city’s $300 million arena management and payment plan with prospective Phoenix Coyotes buyer Greg Jamison. The sale tax revenue helps the city pay for the first years of its 20-year deal with Jamison.

Glendale fought and lost a court battle with SGN to keep the proposition off the ballot. After the courts ruled the proposition should go to the ballot, current City Manager Horatio Skeete and the council decided not to sign the arena deal.

Skeete wants Jamison and his partners to agree to lower the first year city payments in the Coyotes deal from $92 million to $72 million.

Jamison has not yet agreed to any changes, and the city won’t ink the existing deal.

Glendale has also spent or allocated $67 million over the last three budgets to pay the National Hockey League or whoever is running the Coyotes this season to manage Jobing.com Arena.

Mike Sunnucks writes about politics, law, airlines, sports business and the economy for the Phoenix Business Journal, a sister publication of Sporting News.